Sensors are sometimes placed in locations where there is no power supply or the power supply is limited by, for example, the battery life or size. Some Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors have a power consumption great enough to impact battery life in many applications in which the MEMS sensors would be useful. Such MEMS sensors include sensors for detecting position, velocity, acceleration or magnetic fields. Applications for such MEMS sensors include, for example, navigation for smart phones.
Kinetic electromagnetic-induction MEMS energy-harvesters convert mechanical energy into electrical energy by converting mechanical motion, such as deformation, displacement, velocity, and/or acceleration, of a portion or all of an energy-harvester into electrical current and voltage. The electrical energy is used to power an attached device.